PARIS — The Oxford County Soil & Water Conservation District is opening the Oxford County Register of Big Trees search early this year because many are spending time hiking, fishing and spending time outdoors. Here is where the Oxford County Register of Big Trees stands at the start of the 2020 season:

• 45 of the 67 (eastern cottonwood has been added) Maine native species in Oxford County have been found. The total points are determined by a licensed forester who measures circumference in inches plus  height in feet plus one quarter of crown spread.

• Waterford continues to lead the county with nine champion trees.

• The county champion with the most points overall is still a silver maple in Fryeburg with a total of 405.13 points.

• The county champ with the least points is a common juniper with a total of 12 points. Maine has a common juniper in the National Register of Big Trees with a total of 38 points.

• There are five sets of co-champions: bigtooth aspen, black cherry, red maple, shagbark hickory and American chestnut. There are three American chestnuts within 10 points of each other in Oxford County. One of the yellow birch co-champs had to be cut down, leaving the one in Paris as county champion, and a new shagbark hickory measuring within 10 points of the champ was found in Center Lovell, making them new co-champs.

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• Oxford County has seven state champions: American basswood, South Waterford; American sycamore, Waterford; black oak, Sumner; eastern red cedar, Hebron; silver maple, Fryeburg; swamp white oak, Paris; and white ash, Waterford; and a state co-champion, northern red oak, Lovell.

• There are 13 nominees for state champion: trembling aspen, American beech, mountain paper birch, northern white cedar, hawthorn, eastern hemlock, eastern hophornbeam, scarlet oak, eastern white pine, pitch pine, striped maple, white spruce and staghorn sumac.

There are still 22 trees to find going by the information in Forest Trees of Maine, Centennial Edition 1908-2008.

Many of those yet to be found are smaller trees that may be found in wet areas, along streams and ponds. Slippery elm trees are believed to have disappeared from Maine’s landscape. There are photos of all of the trees online to help with identification.

Owners of champion trees receive a certificate and nominators of winning trees receive T-shirts and copies of Forest Trees of Maine, Centennial Edition 1908-2008.

The Oxford County Register of Big Trees is sponsored by Oxford County Soil & Water Conservation District. For more information, native tree list, entry form or a copy of the 2019 Oxford County Register of Big Trees, email oxfordcountyswcd@gmail.com.

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